CBC/Radio-Canada launches Rio campaign

The pubcaster's media plan will feature a new creative approach, targeting Canadians at home and with family abroad.

With less than five months to go until the 2016 Rio Summer Olympic Games, CBC/Radio-Canada has launched the first phase of its promotional strategy across its platforms.

The pubcaster’s approach to promoting these Summer Games is slightly different from the Sochi Games, which came after Canada’s hot home-turf performance in Vancouver. This time around, rather than focusing on the potential of winning Canadians, the CBC is promoting all nations with the tagline “Cheer the World.”

The CBC launched the first phase of the campaign, which is “awareness,” on Saturday. The campaign’s initial 30-second spot shows historic Summer Olympic moments from Canadians and other nations’ athletes. Nadia Flaim, communications and marketing manager, sports and Olympic Games programming, CBC, says the creative comes from the insight that Canada is made up of a tapestry of nations, so the CBC wants to encourage Canadians to cheer on athletes from their home countries in addition to those from Canada.

With media from Initiative and creative done in-house, the second and third phases of the campaign leading up to Rio will be “interest” and “anticipation,” says Flaim.

Flaim says media plans are still being worked out, but executions will include pieces that demonstrate the extraordinary athletic feats being accomplished at the Games. One such example would be an OOH spot marking the height of the highest high jump, and illustrates a house underneath for perspective.